Art of knitting ribbed fabrics.



R. W. SGQTT TTING- BIBBED EABRIGS.

0A FILED $22129. 1913.

ART OF APPLI Patented 28, 1914.

SHEET 1.

Apr.

3 SHEETS LOQ EAQ;

R. W. SCOTT. ART OF KNITTING RIBBED mamas. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 29,1913 R, ART OF xmwma FABRICS. APPLICATION FILED 29. 1913.

' Patentefi Apr. 28, 191%.

a ric under conditions imposing a To all whom it mayconccrn UNITED.snares. airmen;

nonnn'r w. score, on nos'rom massaoneosnrrs.

. j ART- or. m ma Bunsen-nannies.

Soorr, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of Boston, inthecounty of' Suffolk and State .of Massachusetts, have invented a new Beit known that I, ROBERT W.

. and'useful Art of Knitting Ribbed Fabrics,

of which the following is a specification.-

An object of my invention is to improve the mode of forming rib webs,for the puris a vertical radial section through the cylinpose ofinsuring the formation of the .fab-

creased strain on the yarn forme loops, my invention havlng specialvalue for use in the production of knit webs of fine or coarse gagein-which areemployed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 light and delicate yarns der anddial-of a, rib knitting machine of a usual type, given as one instanceonly of a device upon which my method may be practised; Fig. 2 is anunderplan of the dial cam cap of such a machine equipped with cams inaid of the performance of operations corresponding to my method; Fig. 3is a development of the cam cylinder showing the knitting cams for thecylinder needles of such a machine; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sec-.-

tion corresponding to Fig. 1 showing, the relation of the. needles andthe yarn during the-knitting of a stitch by thedialat one of theknitting points; Fig.5 is a plan of aportion to each other andillustratin tion of the dial needles showing their relathe coaction ofthe needles and yarn; F 1g. 6 is a perspective view in the nature of adiagram showing the forming edge of a fabric under construction accordinto my method.

The knitting .or rig webs, essentially reuiring the systematic drawingof loops of the course at theedge of the fabric through previous loopsin alternate wales, orgroups of wales, respectively faces of the fabric,is usually carried out upon instruments or machines comprising twoseries of hooked instruments; which V conveniently may be latch needles,cooperating with each other to engage the new yarn and 'draw it throu hthe old loops. De-

pending upon the c oice of instruments ormachines, such needles may befixed in a bar or carrier, or independently movable in succession withrespect to the yarn and their carrier, in either case to perform thestated operation u eatly deinto knit .ingithen' retracted to a pointdistance to which said run of the knocking over drawn to opposite.

Specifiwtioni 6f t rsfl Patented Apr. 28, 1914. Original application file'flay 7; 1918, Serial No. 166,082. Divided I Serial 1%: 792,815;

and this application filed September movement 0? engaged by them.

In cases where the primary action the secondary action of the other set,difiiculty is experienced in knocking the old loo s carried-bythe'secondary needles over t 'e new loops of yarn which have just beeninrib fabric is formedbyon the yarn. by the relative the nstruments andthe yarn T of one set of needles, and

troduced into the book's of=said needles. In Y all independent needlerib knittin machines with which I am familiar, or instance, the needlesare actuated in a successive order with-respect to their carriers,

one set- (that of either carrier, which may be termed primary needlestheir stitches, theintervening yarn being laid over the needles of the'other carrier, termed secondaryneedles, and

at which the hook of the needle is well within the verge' or edge of itscarrier-before the knocking over of the old loop, which knocking over 1saccomplished bythe combined action of the take-up strain upon thefabric, and the reaction ofthe verge or edge of the carrier orinstruments at said, verge, upon the said. loop, tending to prevent itfrom following the moving, needle." 'But the movin secondary needleengages its new yarn 111 .the middle ofa run thereofextendingbetween twoadjacentprimary loops, in which it is locked and by the distance betweenwhich the extent of said yarn is measured. The

yarn may be moved away from the line determined by the surface on whichthe primary needles operate is thus limited, and 1n order to move thesecondary needle sufiiciently far to cause of its previous loop adangerous strain is always more 'or lesspresent 1n ribbed webs roducedupon instruments so operated. n fine gage machines,

first drawing the latter bein which the/distance between two adjacentprimary needles is often less thanone-six- 1 P teenth of an inch,this-damage often amounts to'a serious loss of tensile strength, and inwebs of any gage, its influence u on the selection of yarns capable ofbeing it is well marked'.-' V

In the operation. of'a prior art machine, for instance such a machine asan independent needle cylinder and dial machine of the typeshown in thepresent drawings, th

', spectto the specti've carriers to clear be simultaneous),

. cylinder short interval.

needles of both 3 will be actuated to advance them with" reverge or edgeof their said retheir loops behind their latches, to then engage thenew. yarn in their hooks (which said operations may and then the needlesof one of the carriers only will be withdrawn into' that carrier to drawthe old loop through the new loop, a similar operation upon the othercarrier following within a The needles of-the first carrier to knit arehereinafter referred to 'as primary nee les and of the second carrier toknit as secondary needles.

Referring 'now to Fig. 5, the cylinder needles or having taken the yarnY, for instance, will all be actuated at w to knit one face of thefabric. The needles a; ofthe primary carrier having knit, the yarnsextending'between the knit loopsof adjacent needles or groups of needlesof said primary carrier will be engaged by the hooks of the, advancedneedles of said secondary carrier, and it will then become necessary forthe needles of the secondary carrier to so perform theiroperationsfia'sf. to draw the yarn so engaged into loops-of properlength for the secondary j face of. fabric by a penetrating movementthrough the old loops engaged upon their shanks. The minimum movementpossible for this purpose 'of pulling the new loop through the old loop(which may be stated with the same meaning as knocking the old. loopover the head of the needle on to the new loop) must be made withrespect to the fixed line of primary needles, and necessarily is of adimension sufficient to place. the yarn runs 1' now held in the book ofasecondary I (dial) needle and-engaged' at its ends with loops reatvheld ,on the cylinder needles under strain. The farther the secondaryneedle is compelled to move before its loop is knocked over, the greaterbecomes the strain. .The

mafor the between the forming 'abric, for instance,

'v .of the secondary carrier any farther toward the surface occupied bythe primary needles. I a

I have described one wayof overcoming the above difficulties in myPatent No.

' 1,070,191, dated August 12, 1913, which discloses the device ofseparate instruments for the needles of the secondary carrier, to en'-gage the old loops of that face of the fabric by said instruments, andto positively move the said loops with respect to their needles, tosecure knocking over with respect to runs of yarn, the strain on whichhas been relieved by the release of the primary needles from thecylinder 2 and-the dial the the dial 3, will prevent the moving oftheknocking-over verge or edge their stitch-drawing position.

'My present method constitutes another way of accomplishing the sameends. e

I have devised a, new order of performing the operations resulting inthe decrease of eration of the said old instruments, which new orderWlllpermit the use of scribed old instruments. This method when maycomprise the steps of feeding the yarn to the primary needles, knittingone face of the fabric with the primary needles, -releas ing the yarnengaged by the primary needles (exceptso much thereof as isnecessarytoass around the thin metal of the hook of the needle) drawingthe yarn between some of said primary needles only throu h the old loopshanging upon the 'secon ary needles '(to' knit in some wales only of theother or secondary face of the fabric); relaxing the tension upon thesecondary loops so drawn, I

pleting the secondary knitting by drawing tween the primary needlesthrough the old loops of the remaining wales of the other or secondaryface. movements of-the instruments as to cause these operations formedwith respect to yarns released an free for this purpose, each secondaryneedle being given yarn from an adjacent needle not yet retracted andfrom the previously knit loop or loops near it, sufficient to enable itto make the long movement necessary for knocking over an old loop, and along loop formed by'said needle being in turn released, to be shortenedby the long movement of an adjoining needle. It will be understood,however, that-the same order of steps may well be performed by method.For instance, the rowsof ad acent each other, while the individualinstruments may either be movable independently, or fixed with respectto each other. .In the latter case instruments may. be provided-relaneedles, for manipulation the yarn upoirsaid needles for ribknitting, such asare usually employed in a straight bar or Cotton-typerib knitting machine, I have, however, for convenience described mymethod in connection with the operation of the c 'lllldel and dialmachine above rethe strain placed upon' the yarn by the opthe ,de'

carried out upon the said old instruments to be successively per--tively, movable with respect to said fixedor movement of intervening andthereafter comthe remaining runs of yarn intervening be- I may so orderthe moving the yarn loops 4 with respect to-relatively fixed needles,the

those parts of the needles or instruments instruments or needles maybest mounted as r to have relative movement with respect toferred to,which forms the subject of my application Serial No. 766,092, filed May7, 1913, of which this application is a division.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 4, in order to practise m invention uponsuch a cylinder and dia knitting machine, I may divide the secondaryneedles, shown as the dial needles, into two intercalatcd sets, whichmay comprise alternate needles or groups of needles 3 and'y' havingtheir butts at different distances from their hooks to enableindependent actuation thereof. As shown the long needles y for thedialmay "'havetheir operating butts sufiicientlyinward of those of the shortneedles ytoen'-' spect to the usual yarn feed and latch guard mary 100(not shown) which thereafter prevents said latches from closing untilthe needles are retracted for knitting. Said cam grooves will at afarther point present maximum advancing points 8, for instance upon theradialplane C, Figs. 2 and 3. Cooper-at ing with the dial cam 8,thecylinder willpresent an advancing cam 9. Yarn may be fed at the planeC. The cylinder needles are immediately actuated to knit with respectto'the advanced dial needles, by the cylinder stitch cam 10, which mayas usual he formed as a triangular body, vertically adjustable as by theusual screw and slot adjustment shown at 11- to vary the length of thepridrawn by said cam 10 with respect'to t e 'dialneedles y and g, whichnow rest with their latches open and their heads beyond the line ofcylinder needles, .at the circumferential parts of the camgrooves at and,6, shown at 12, 12 Fig. 2. The cylinder needless; havin knit, they areimmediately advanced by the cam 13 to the position shown in Fig. 4 topay back or release the yarn. drawn by their stitch forming move- ?ment.'1 1e upper extent of the movement,

i gas t v which is not alone dependent upon the cam 13 forpositively becaused by the strain ut upon the yarn by'movementof the dial needles,although ive it by the cam 13, is limited by .theguaed cam 14, which maybe vertically adjustable by means similar to the adjusting screw 11.Immediately upon the attainment of the position shown in Fig. 4 by theneedles w,'I now actuate one set "of the'dial needles, shownas theneedlesy, to perform their knitting movement, and for this purposeprovide an adjustable stitch -ca1 n15 havin its maximum withdrawal Jointon the plane of Figs. 2, 3 and 5. Ootiperating with the stitch cam, thecam groove 6 4, I may provi ment the needles giving it, but may in partprovides at the point. 16 a circumferential portion taking the needles 3to a position in which their hooks are substantiallyin the line occupiedby the hooks of the primary needles at this time, which'is the positionshown for the needley in Fig. 4-. and at b in Fig. 5. The cylinderneedles :0 and the dial needles have thus been brought into a positionat which the minimum possible extent of am will'pass' through the oldloops and t irough the respective hooks,dur-v i'ng the time of -thevstitch forming move-..

inent of the needley,

of the needle y and"thef needle rawhexi-in the position of dial loopthrough the old loop. Immediately followin e an advancing incline 17cooperating with the needles y to advance them to the position shown atc, e,'-in Fi 5, that is to say, to a position at which t eir towhichenough yarn V has been released by the advanced positions p Fig. 4 toenable the "free re- 2, 1- cessio'n of said needle y to draw the new thecam 15 in the. groove hooks are substantially in line with or in Iadvance of the verge of their carrier, to re lease the strain 11 on thenew yarn loop.- lily following, this move; 11 may be retracted tot"knock over their loops, for instance b the v During, or prefera dam 18,which -may be a able stitch cam of the-form s 1 Cam 18 is followed by a.cam slope 19 to release the needles y/ into line 3/ now in the position0 of Fig. 5.

ivoted a 'ust{ Referring now to Figs. '5 and 6, these own iii-Fig.1 2.

with the needles movements or the instruments illustrated} have carriedout the following operations:

-1. A loop of a new course has been added to each Wale of the face orcylinder side A (Fig. 6) of the fabric. '2. The stress ortension uponthe yarn caused by this operation has been relieved, during theformation at some only, or recurrent, wales of loops of, the same courseon the dial or back face B of the fabric. 3. The loops last formed atthe growing edge of thefabric have been released to permit the yarnintervening between said loops and the adjacent loops of face Ato beformed into-loops of interven:

ing wales of the back face B of the fabric. These matters operation uponthe illustrative machine out to engage the sinker wales between saidcylinder may be stated in terms of the needles, and said cylinderneedles" shown as follows: First, the cylinder needles have knitwith'respec't to dial needles thrown, r

have then been released to 9. position-atv which they place the minimumpossible tension upon the loops 'of the newknit; second, certain of thedial;- needles yarn just 5 I shown as alternate needles have thenpe'rformed their knitting movements during such time as the interveningneedles of the dial have also been placed 1n a position to put n'ostrain upon the new yarn held in their hooks, that is to say at theposition b ofv Fig. 5, and thus to permit their yarn to be used by theneedles 3/ following them to draw elongated stitches suflicient to knockover their old loops; third, the needles of the dial which had been in aposition of rest to release their loops for this fpurposethen haveoperated durin orafter the release of the a new loop by-.t 1e followingneedles of the other dial series, also to permit the use'of a part ofthe yarn employed in the knocking over operation. of the first series ofsecondary needles to knit. Thus a dial stitch on a needle y is robbed orgives'up some of'its yarn to aid a needle 3 toknit. The last needle ofthe secondary carrier to knit, as described a'short needle 3 will nowhold loops 1 a slightly enlarged at the expense of the loops at oftheirfiankin needles y, and larger than the loops 0 .o the neighboringcylinder needles a2; but, as will readily be apparent, the mean oraverage size of the dial loops and the cylinder loops will besubstantially only one-half that necessary for the knocking-overoperation under normal conditions, if the adjustments are such as tocause a recession of the secondary needles into their carrier onlysufiicient to permit lmocking-oversat the times of their maxi? mumwithdrawal illustrated at a; and f, Figs. 5 and 6. Bythe"described.operat1ons of withdrawing the secondary needles into theircarrier onlysufiiciently far to permit knocking over, at the time oftheir maximum withdrawal,} and by the described operations ofthesecondary needles in two sets, one of which lmocks'overpreviously tothe other, I'

' have thus provided sufiicient new yarn to be operations to beperformed simultaneously,

moved through the old loop, without having provided suificient new yarnto permit these or by successive drawing movements of adjacent secondaryneedles. I may, if necessary,

, ric and the now adjust the short loops which have been knit bysubjecting themto alternate or successive stresses from each face of thefabric, as by providing an adjustable retracting cam .for the cylinder,shown at 20, and adjustable needles y retracting-cams 21 and 22 for theand y of the dial. While I have shown the cam 20 ina position to precedein effect the operative position of cams 21 and 22, is obvious thatthese positions may be reversed. The effect of these cams is asindicatedat Figs. 5 and 6 at p to adjust ordistribute the yarn nowcompletely inter-knit between the loops n, n of the back or dial face ofthe fabloops 0 of the front or cylinder face thereof.

When carrying out my method upon a multiple or double course machinesuch as that usually employed for wide fabrics, I- prefer to reverse theorder atwhich the needles y and 7 knock overtheir loops at the secondfeed or course; for instance, instead groove the needle y at a latertime than the needles ently tucked loops,

.carriers only, respectively for of the cam 15 having its stitch formingpoint in the groove 4 in advance of the stitch forming point of the cam18 in the groove 6, I; may provide at the next yarn feed inthe 4 aknitting cam 150, to knock over 3 which will be operated by a cam 180 ofthe form and at the position shown. The

cylinder cam for the'second' feed or unit may, however, remainunaltered, comprising a the cams 9, 10, 13, 1 1 and 20.

My invention is readily applicable, it" will I be understood withoutspecific illustration, as well to rib knittingcharacterized by theformation on one or both faces of persistfor instance in connection withthe making of Cardigan or half- Cardiganfabrics, as to the regular ribknite ting shown and described as one illustrative instance. Machinesfor the said purposes may, as usual, he provided at alternate feeds orgroups of feeds in both, or in one of the .and. half-Cardigan knitting,with .stitch cams having any usual structure for tucking at that feed'Usual constructions for this purpose may, comprise advancing camsinsufiiciently high to clear the needles, or

.stitch-camsof insutficient loop-drawing ex' tent to knock over theloops- When such cams are in use, the described knocking-over operationwill be delayed to another or later course, with an accumulation ofloops at the needles concerned, but when said knockingover does takeplace, it will be with respect to neighboring needles advanced to alooprelieving position in the manner I have 'fully described.

It will beapparent-that, while I have de- 1. The art of knittingribbedwebs Gem'- prising first knitting a course of loops on. one faceof the fabric, then knitting 100 s of the same course in separated walesof the other face of'the fabric, and then knitting lfoops in theintervening wales of said other ace. v

2. The art of knitting ribbed fabrics com= prising the formation ofsuccessive courses by first forming from a run of yarn sufficient toform all the loopsof both faces of the fabric knit loops of saidyarnpenetrating the old stitches of one face of the fabric,

said Cardigan -ments of the needles with respect to their subsequentlydrawing loops of said yarn through some only of the old stitches of theother face of the fabric, and then drawing loops of said yarn throughthe remaining old stitches of said other face of the fabric.

3. The art of knittug ribbed fabrics comprising the following steps;first knitting a course of loops in all the wales of one face; thendrawing the yarn intervening between some of the said wales through someonly of the previous loops of the other face, and then drawing theremaining parts of the yarn intervening between face wales through theremaining previous loops of said other face;

4. The art of forming ribbed fabric C(Jlllprising knitting acourse ofthe primary face of the fabric andthereafter completing said courseinthe secondary face of the fabric by knitting a plurality ofintercalated series of loops in succession, the loops of the first ofsaid series being completed and relaxed prior to the knitting of theremainder of said series of loops.

5. The art of knitting ribbed webs on two sets of needles, comprisingfeeding a yarn to the needles, then actuating one set of needles to knitloops of said yarn through the loops of a previous course on one face-ofthe web; then actuatingaseries of needles distributed among the needlesof the other set to knit said yarn through other loops of said previouscourse, and then actuating the remaining instruments of said other setto knit said yarn through all the remaining loopsof said previouscourse.

6. The method of knitting ribbed fabric upon at least two sets ofinstruments comprising feeding the yarn to the instruments of said sets,knitting upon one face of the fabric by causing loops of said yarn topenetrate loops of previously ft' l'med fabric held at instruments ofone of said sets only, then causing the yarn intervening between saidknit loops to be knit upon the other face of the fabric at the locationof some of the in struments only of another set of said instruments, andthereafter knitting the yarn in tervening between the previously knitloops at the location of the remaining instruments.

7. The method of knitting ribbed fabric which comprises the formation ofanew course upon a previously knit section of such fabric by firstforming a new yarn into a successive series of primary loops peneratingthe terminal loops of the previous fabric in all of the wales of oneface of the web,

between said primary loops into loops l ipeneface trating the remainingwales of the bac of the web.

8. The method of knitting ribbed fabric upon two intercalated sets ofhooked instruments, comprising supplying yarn to the hooks o both setsof said instruments, and then drawingthe yarn at one set of instrumentsinto loops penetrating previous loops of one face of the fabric; inthereafter relaxing the new or last formed loops b relative movementbetween the fabric and tiie instruments upon which said loops wereformed and are held in thereafter operating upon the yarn at thelocation of alternate instruments of the other set, first to cause theyarn runs. intervening-between loops of the first knit face at certainonly of said instruments distributed among said other setto be drawn insuccession through the old loops of the other or back face ofthe-fabric, and there'- after to cause said loops to be relaxed insuccession; and in thereafter operating upon the yarn at the location ofthe remaining instruments of said other set to draw loops toward saidback face of the fabric.

9. The art of knitting ribbed webs comprising first knitting'a course ofnew loops on one face of the fabric, then knitting loops of the samecourse in separated wales only of the other face of the fabric,thenknitting loops in the intervening wales of said other face, and thensubjecting the loops of both faces to successive stresses to adjust thelength of the loops.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT W. SCOTT.

Witnesses: I

HARRY J KELLY, Ror C. Sournwonrn.

